title: The three pillars of the new family.
abstract: Children are the chief sufferers from the growing fragility of marriages and partnerships. They may also suffer from their mothers going out to paid work unless satisfactory alternative arrangements are made for their care, for instance, by bringing in grandparents to look after their grandchildren when the mothers are not at home. Grandparents may also have an important role when parents separate. There is a dearth of facts about what actually happens. The part played by grandparents has been touched on, but nothing more, in the course of studies in baby care and baby-sitting and the repercussions of the illness of the mother. A Grandparent Commission is proposed to set in motion some of the necessary research and to review official policy as it affects grandparents. If grandparents already do a lot for children, and could do more, a measure of optimism about the future of the family could succeed the prevailing pessimism.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Community Studies, Bethnal Green, London, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005190:Family; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000639:trends; D016487:Parenting / Q000639:trends; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States